{"id":57338,"date":"2014-09-07T21:07:39","date_gmt":"2014-09-08T05:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=57338"},"modified":"2023-09-18T04:57:09","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T12:57:09","slug":"ray-donovan-the-varieties-of-the-jewish-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=57338","title":{"rendered":"Ray Donovan & The Varieties Of The Jewish Experience In LA"},"content":{"rendered":"

This TV show<\/a> is the best dramatic representation of the Los Angeles I’ve experienced. It reminds me of the Jewish pornographers I’ve interviewed and the Italian and Irish tough guys I’ve met. It’s inspired by the career of fixer Anthony Pellicano. In 2003, I broke the story<\/a> of Pellicano’s connection to the bullet hole in journalist Anita Busch<\/a>‘s windshield. <\/p>\n

If any mainstream journalist wrote about Hollywood Jews the way this TV show depicts them, he’d be in for a world of hurt. <\/p>\n

The Jewish temple this show most evokes for me is Stephen S. Wise<\/a> on Mulholland Drive.<\/p>\n

Joshua Neuman writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\nRay Donovan is the Most Important Jewish Show on Television Today<\/p>\n

…contains the most fascinating conversation about Jewish culture on television today.<\/p>\n

The J.Q. (\u201cJew Quotient\u201d) of Ray Donovan is insane…<\/p>\n

While Goodman consults with the Torah before engaging in nefarious activities, Avi consults only with his instinct to survive. Together, Ezra and Avi wage an improbable Jewish war over Ray\u2019s soul with Ezra tapping Ray\u2019s moral conscience and Avi, his will to survive.<\/p>\n

There are other characters that should immediately trigger your jewdar (unctuous Hollywood producer Stu Feldman, yenta neighbor Judy Hoffman, and judging marriage counselor Dr. Finkel), but perhaps the most interesting \u201cJewish\u201d character on the show might be Ray himself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For me there is no greater compliment than “offensive.”<\/p>\n

Queerty suggests<\/a> Ray Donovan is the most offensive show on TV: <\/p>\n

Have you heard? Apparently everyone in Hollywood with any power is Jewish. Is this the Southies\u2019 perspective or some universal truth we\u2019re being alerted to? Elliot Gould\u2019s character, a partner in a talent management firm, and the one responsible for importing Ray from Boston, is in mourning for his recently deceased wife and it\u2019s an excuse for him to rediscover his Jewishness and spout Yiddish exclamations! to break the tension where appropriate (you can imagine the writer\u2019s room cards being rearranged). Gould\u2019s partner, played by Peter Jacobson (House), gets to play the money-grubbing Jew-agent type, screaming! screaming! screaming! into his phone headset against a 10th floor Beverly Hills view. Oy, he\u2019s gonna have a heart attack, he\u2019s so stressed! And for good measure there\u2019s the cowardly Jew-producer type \u201cStu Feldman\u201d(Josh Pais) who also yells a lot \u2014 about drive-ons! \u2014 but is ultimately craven. Check that off your list of stereotypes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This TV show is the best dramatic representation of the Los Angeles I’ve experienced. It reminds me of the Jewish pornographers I’ve interviewed and the Italian and Irish tough guys I’ve met. It’s inspired by the career of fixer Anthony … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t